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Something I haven't seen mentioned here is how sick UV lights will make you. The first time I used mine, I noticed that I started feeling really nauseous within about an hour. Couldn't figure out what was going on. Second night was the same. I had ordered a couple pair of special goggles with mine, but hadn't used them. Finally tried them, and it helped a lot, but still a slight sick feeling. Apparently, our eyes can't focus UV light very well, so you get sort of "carsick" from the continuous effort of your eyes to focus. For me the SW was worse than the LW. The goggles definitely help.

I've never heard of anything like this before. Could it have been something else? I know you're not supposed to stare into the lights themselves but that's about the only danger I'm aware of.

Nope...it's a real thing. When I mentioned it on a couple of other forums I had people chime in a explain why i was getting sick. it definitely is the focus problem of your eyes. I don't notice it with the LW LED flashlights, but I haven't spent much general scanning time with them. It's possible not everybody has the problem. Some people can read in a moving vehicle;...I can't. I get carsick if I read for more than a couple of minutes. I'm sure there are people who, even though their eyes may be straining, don't get sick from it. People are not the same...LOL

Jim

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Your eyes can't see in the ultraviolet range Jim so they aren't trying to focus in that range. If your eyes were really trying to focus on ultraviolet you would be sick during the daylight when the UV content is much higher than from any handheld battery powered light. UV is what makes the sunlight feel "warm" and what burns our skin to red or brown if we spend more than a few minutes a day exposed to that UV source. Powerful stuff that UV.

The glow you see with ultraviolet lighting in the dark is fluorescence in the visible range caused by the property of some substances absorbing light of short wavelength and emitting light of longer wavelength. The light you see as a colored glow is visible light - not UV. Your eyes can focus as easily on the fluorescence as they can any other visible object.

Your eyes can be damaged by direct UV exposure. Since you can't see UV light you might find yourself casually looking at your UV light source while it is busy burning out your vision receptors. UV exposure is why people go blind from staring at the sun. The effect is magnified when using UV lights in the dark. Your pupils are fully dilated and don't provide any protection from UV burns as they would in sunshine.

Avoid looking into your UV light source. The shorter the wavelength the more likely it is to cause radiation burns to your eyes. If there are a lot of reflective surfaces where you are viewing wear UV protected eye wear even if you do avoid looking at the light source. UV reflects just as well as the visible light we are more used to even though it's invisible to our eyes.

It sounds like you are experiencing radiation burns to your retina. Your eyes can recover, if the exposure isn't too great, just as eventually your burned retina recovers normal vision after you look at the sun. The more the exposure the greater the chance of permanent vision damage. Check out the symptoms of Photokeratitis and I think you may recognize some of the problems you have experienced.

Your eyes can't see in the ultraviolet range Jim so they aren't trying to focus in that range. If your eyes were really trying to focus on ultraviolet you would be sick during the daylight when the UV content is much higher than from any handheld battery powered light. UV is what makes the sunlight feel "warm" and what burns our skin to red or brown if we spend more than a few minutes a day exposed to that UV source. Powerful stuff that UV.

The glow you see with ultraviolet lighting in the dark is fluorescence in the visible range caused by the property of some substances absorbing light of short wavelength and emitting light of longer wavelength. The light you see as a colored glow is visible light - not UV. Your eyes can focus as easily on the fluorescence as they can any other visible object.

Your eyes can be damaged by direct UV exposure. Since you can't see UV light you might find yourself casually looking at your UV light source while it is busy burning out your vision receptors. UV exposure is why people go blind from staring at the sun. The effect is magnified when using UV lights in the dark. Your pupils are fully dilated and don't provide any protection from UV burns as they would in sunshine.

Avoid looking into your UV light source. The shorter the wavelength the more likely it is to cause radiation burns to your eyes. If there are a lot of reflective surfaces where you are viewing wear UV protected eye wear even if you do avoid looking at the light source. UV reflects just as well as the visible light we are more used to even though it's invisible to our eyes.

It sounds like you are experiencing radiation burns to your retina. Your eyes can recover, if the exposure isn't too great, just as eventually your burned retina recovers normal vision after you look at the sun. The more the exposure the greater the chance of permanent vision damage. Check out the symptoms of Photokeratitis and I think you may recognize some of the problems you have experienced.

Naahh...I never look directly into the light. What I read said that most UV fluoresecent bulbs produce a violet light that eyes have trouble with. It may be I'm in the minority on this, but

" Way Too Cool" sells the goggles, so obviously there's a known problem that has nothing to do with damage to your eyes. The goggles filter out the portion (spectrum) of the light that is causing the problem. Several years ago there were a considerable number of posts, on one forum or another, talking about this problem. It's a well-known issue. I remember one guy even said he'd used clear motorcycle goggles, and that helped.

Jim

Jim

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It may be that I'm extra sensitive to UV, though others have reported the same problem. It may also be that the reason I don't have symptoms from sunlight is the white light produced by the sun mitigates the UV sensitivity. So, when the only light is UV, I get sick. The goggles block the UV, so they make a big difference for me. Apparently about 1/3 of the population is sensitive to UV to some extent. I've never noticed any special sensitivity to fluorescent lighting....just UV at night.

Jim

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Interests:Geology,
Prospecting,
Nuggetology,
Paleontology,
Meteors,Meteorites, and Comets,
Astronomy and Astrophysics.
Goldsmithing,
Wood and Stone carving,
Metal engraving, fishing,
and the adventure of the great outdoors.

Jim I heard some people are sensitive to the pulse or flickering of florescent lights. I haven't noticed it making me feel sick in general. Also besides your eyes, I don't make a habit of shining it directly on my arms or hands a lot. you'll know if you do it feels like a light arc welding burn. similar to a sun burn.
AzNuggetBob

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Yup...don't want SW on your skin, especially. Fortunately I live at high elevation, and usually UV prospect even higher, so it's cool enough at night, I usually have a coat on, or at least a long-sleeved shirt.

Jim

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Interests:Geology,
Prospecting,
Nuggetology,
Paleontology,
Meteors,Meteorites, and Comets,
Astronomy and Astrophysics.
Goldsmithing,
Wood and Stone carving,
Metal engraving, fishing,
and the adventure of the great outdoors.

Jim when I first got my Uv light I really didnt know much about the effects from exposure from them. It was a new toy and I was using it every night for weeks and then off and on for months. something else I forgot about, when I rewired it I guess I was thinking more power is better so as I was going through the wiring today I noticed I had re-wired it from top to bottom filament with the switch, to on-off both filaments in the bulb, and just moving the UV blocking plate up or down for high or low. this is probably why its using so much battery.
AzNuggetBob

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Interests:Geology,
Prospecting,
Nuggetology,
Paleontology,
Meteors,Meteorites, and Comets,
Astronomy and Astrophysics.
Goldsmithing,
Wood and Stone carving,
Metal engraving, fishing,
and the adventure of the great outdoors.

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What I'd like to do with mine is separate the ballasts from the bulbs. Have the bulbs on a wand, like a detector, and the rest in the control box with a belt, or chest mount. That setup would be the nuts. I've used mine with a wand, but trying to swing that 4 or 5LB weight on a wand is really tiring, even with a support strap.

Jim.

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Interests:Geology,
Prospecting,
Nuggetology,
Paleontology,
Meteors,Meteorites, and Comets,
Astronomy and Astrophysics.
Goldsmithing,
Wood and Stone carving,
Metal engraving, fishing,
and the adventure of the great outdoors.

Ya I agree Jim
You could take all the unnecessary hardware out of the bulb housing and put it in a tool belt like I did with my brick gel cell battery and just run the wiring out to the bulbs. Im thinking about going to cam corder batteries but Im not sure they can handle the start up drain. cam corder batteries have a surge protector built into them. on one of my Minelab detector modds I had to upgrade the surge chip in the battery pack to one with a higher rating. it kept kicking it out when I would crank up the old PI and you have to put it back in the charger to re-set it.
AzNuggetBob

Ya I agree Jim
You could take all the unnecessary hardware out of the bulb housing and put it in a tool belt like I did with my brick gel cell battery and just run the wiring out to the bulbs. Im thinking about going to cam corder batteries but Im not sure they can handle the start up drain. cam corder batteries have a surge protector built into them. on one of my Minelab detector modds I had to upgrade the surge chip in the battery pack to one with a higher rating. it kept kicking it out when I would crank up the old PI and you have to put it back in the charger to re-set it.
AzNuggetBob

Hmmm...I've never even thought of the surge issue....LOL Maybe I should have. I built two 12v packs for mine. They're NiCad's. Each one is 10 'D' size batteries. Each pack will run mine about 1 1/2 hours with both bulbs on. I usually only run the LW as I'm looking for gems. I use the SW occasionally just to get an idea of the general fluorescence of the minerals in the area I'm working. I'm getting old anyway, and I find that 3 hours of fluorescent prospecting is about all I can do in one night anyway.